


Just Like Old Friends

by Zodiac



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Also spoilers for all the routes because I'm a monster, Angst, Gen, I was having such a bad time with Sans that I decided to torment him in writing, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Villainous monologues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-28
Updated: 2015-09-28
Packaged: 2018-04-23 20:17:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4890697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zodiac/pseuds/Zodiac
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At the end of the underworld, in between attempts at the same battle over and over, a genocidal maniac decides to have a lovely little chat with the skeleton that they're fighting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just Like Old Friends

"Sans, Sans, Sans." The human clucked in disappointment, voice gravelly and ragged with disuse. Their head moved from side-to-side in a ponderous motion and they held their hands up in exasperation, their skin hidden beneath caked-on layers of chalky dust, the remains of over a hundred monsters whose lives had been ended by those very hands.

And they were intent—no— _determined_ , to add one more to that number with Sans.

"How many times have we been at this now?" The human continued on, hands dropping back to their sides. The fingers of one hand curled reflexively around the handle of a knife tucked into their pocket, a blade that Sans was all-too familiar with by now. "Twenty-five? Thirty, maybe? Ah, why am I even bothering to ask you? You stopped keeping track at twelve." The corners of their lips twisted up into a smirk. "Over twelve, let's keep it at that. Over twelve times that I've thrown myself against you and, every time, you get just a little more worn-out. Every time, I withstand more and more of your attacks. Surely even you have to realize that you can't keep this up forever."

Outwardly, Sans remained unaffected by their words, hands casually remaining tucked in his jacket pockets. Inwardly, he wondered why the human had decided to speak now of all times. It was obvious that they weren't giving up, not after his last offer at sparing them, anyway. No, that ferocious, borderline feral snarl and narrowed eyes they had returned with after that particular offer had been proof enough that they wouldn't try that option again. Now, they seemed smugly talkative, as though they knew something that he did not. Countless possibilities of desperation-filled lies and half-truths darted through his mind, all designed to make him drop his guard. But, he knew far better than to allow that to happen, so he figured he may as well allow it.

Besides, it was better than constantly dodging that knife of theirs.

"I don't have to keep this up forever." He responded calmly. "I just need to outlast you."

A derisive snort as the smirk parted to reveal a wide grin. "So you can do what? Return to what little remains of your civilization? There wouldn't be any point to that and you know it. The survivors would fear humans far too much to attempt to take one last soul for their collection. You'd be trapped down here for the rest of your life, living amongst traumatized monsters who would whisper my name in awed horror as they recounted what I had done to their loved ones." The grin became sharper, as cutting as the human's tone now was. "And the best part is that you would be all alone. None of your dear friends would be there to comfort you because they've all been slaughtered already."

Inside his jacket pockets, his fingers bunched up into fists. He knew the human was attempting to coax a reaction out of him and he knew that, against his will, it was working. " _Don't_ talk about them."

"And why not? They can't hear me now and they definitely can't talk back. Now, all they are is dust that's been blown away from their places of death," They raised their free hand, wiggling their fingers soiled by their sins, "and carried with me all this way. You can say goodbye to what's left of them if you want. Then again," Their eyes fixed him with an accusing look, "they are clearly worth as much to you as dust is."

"...What are you talking about now?" He should just begin his assault now, end the human's blabbering, but... this was new, a blessed respite from their endless, monotonous battling no matter how horrible it was in actuality. Curious, he allowed it to continue.

"The promise." The child hissed, drawing out the 's'. "Or does dear, sweet Toriel's word mean so little to you that you've forgotten it already?"

A cold chill raced down his spine. "...How do you know her name?"

The grin turned impish, playful and demonic at once. "You told me of a woman in the Ruins you used to trade those _lovely_ puns of yours with and how you made a promise to protect a human if you saw them. Not here of course, but somewhere and somewhen else when we were on better terms. Anyway, knowing that and a few other tidbits of information, I put two and two together and figured that it was Toriel you were talking about. And my suspicions were confirmed when you two finally met and hit it off like old friends."

A vision flashed in his mind of a photograph that was his only remaining memory of happier times, a photograph in which monsters he knew—Papyrus, Undyne, even the king himself—and monsters he didn't know such as the sweet-looking woman who seemed so much like the king were all grouped together, unconcerned and even thrilled by the human in their midst.

The same human that now stood before him.

They couldn't be lying, not about that. His room was constantly locked along with the house itself, so they couldn't have merely seen the picture. His reports were accurate then; this child held knowledge about other timelines, if not outright power over them. The question was, how much knowledge did they possess? "...What else do you know?"

"I know how nice she was. How she treated me like one of her own." They giggled, high-pitched and unhinged. "But I suppose that is because I _am_ one of her own, or at least, I was at one time. The sentimental old goat couldn't see fit to let me go even after all this time, so I made her, though it certainly wasn't in the way she was thinking of."

They crossed their arms behind their back and paced to the side, head tilted up to look at the stained glass window bearing the sigil of the kingdom. "I know too that that disgusting niceness ran in that family of hers. The king is still cloyingly sweet now, I'm assuming? Knowing him, he'll offer me a cup of tea before I break his soul." Their head rolled on their neck, lolling to look at him. "I know that he's just beyond here, just beyond you. I just need to kill you and then I can destroy the hopes of what little monsters remain. Hell, maybe those monsters are waiting with him. There's only so many places you can go to flee underground, so perhaps dear Doctor Alphys is stammering on a conversation with him at this very moment."

Turning to face him fully once more, their hands dropped back to their sides. "Ah, Alphys. She committed sins too, you know. Merged her own brethren into grotesque things which could truly be called monsters. And yet, do I see you judging her for it? No, of course not."

"She regrets her sins. She tries to repent for them. You, on the other hand, continue to sin and will continue to sin unless you are stopped." He replied quietly. Anger was boiling within him, fists shaking in his pockets from how casually this child was talking about how they had murdered people they had clearly known. He knew who the child would inevitably talk about, knew he wouldn't be able to stand it, but his hands remained tucked in his jacket. This was his punishment for not acting earlier and, unlike the human, he would willingly suffer through it.

"Oh yes, she's doing a fantastic job at repenting for them. Hiding herself and her sins from the world is a wonderful way to make up for them. Why, it even helped get her darling little crush killed." Another giggle as the human pressed their hands against their cheeks, depositing the chalky white dust on their face. "Undyne was fighting for her sake too, you know. She was ever-so determined to keep sweet little Alphys safe from me. And yet, while she was dying, Alphys was merely watching it happen." They bared their teeth in a twisted grin. "It seems she learned firsthand that Undyne wasn't as _undying_ as her name might have implied." After a few moments with no laughter, they huffed, letting their hands slide down from their face, leaving streaks of dust in their wake. "Nothing? Come now, I would have thought that you, of all people, would appreciate that pun."

"You are joking about murdering someone who I thought of as a friend for many years." He said, disgust dripping from his tone before it was traded for sarcasm. "So I apologize that I am unable to see the humor in it. Also, she watched it so she could make sure that everyone needed to be evacuated before calling a false alarm." He allowed his hands to slip out from his pockets and fall to his sides. Alphys had been even more distraught than usual when she rushed passed him with what little remained of the monster civilization, stammering at him to seek safety as well. No doubt that she had seen what the human had done to Undyne and was trying, and failing, to hide her grief for the sake of the other monsters.

Much like he was doing now.

"She watched the whole thing happen. She watched as her loved one was murdered before her eyes, helpless to aid her." Their hand darted down, pulling the knife from their pocket and leveling it at him, but staying in place. "Doesn't that seem so very familiar to you?"

Pinpricks of sweat appeared on his skull despite the fact that he hadn't even begun to fight yet. "...No." He breathed out, knowing that it was in fact familiar.

"You're lying." They crooned in a sing-song voice, waving the knife from side to side. "But since you claim ignorance, I will gladly remind you. You watched as I murdered your dear brother. You _knew_ that I would most likely kill him, yet all you did was warn me against it. You could have easily stepped in as you have now, ended my life then and there before Papyrus opened his arms for me like I was an old friend. But you didn't. You waited until after I slaughtered your brother to act when you could have easily prevented it." They opened their mouth to allow sadistic cackling to issue forth. "Why, you're practically as responsible for his death as I am!"

Suddenly, they leaped backwards moments before a wall of bones stabbed out of the floor they had just been standing on. They laughed openly as they danced with the confident fluidity of someone who knew precisely what was about to happen around lasers that had begun to fire from ethereal skulls floating at Sans' side. "Tired of talk?" They asked tauntingly as they ducked beneath a laser that had vaporized them in their earlier fights.

"Tired of _your_ talk." He replied in a strained tone, clearly struggling with his emotions as he shot quick glances at the skulls while they hovered in place, waiting for their chances to fire again.

"Good, because I'm tired of talking to you." With that, they charged forward with their knife, hoping that this time would be the one where the blade would reunite Sans with his dear, dead brother.

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed this and wanted to screech at me in a manner similar to socializing, then you can find my Tumblr right [here](http://catsandcomposers.tumblr.com/).


End file.
